1. The Field of the Present Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to jacks, and more particularly, but not necessarily entirely, to a trailer tongue jack foot that is capable of retracting.
2. Description of Related Art
When a trailer is parked and detached from a tow vehicle, a support is required for the trailer tongue. Although other objects might be used, generally a special purpose jack (called a trailer jack or tongue jack) attached to the tongue is used. In addition, various types of vehicles, such as trailers and recreational vehicles (Rvs) use vehicle jacks for leveling the vehicle. Vehicle jacks generally are mounted vertically, or are pivotable to a vertical position, and have a telescoping portion (or inner tube) and a crank for upwardly and downwardly moving the telescoping portion. Such jacks provide static support, leveling, and facilitate detaching the tongue from the trailer hitch on the tow vehicle by allowing the tongue to be raised relative to the hitch, thereby disengaging the tongue from the hitch.
Devices for supporting trailer tongues are well known. U.S. Pat. No. 2,159,395 for “Trailer Control,” describes a pivotable wheel assembly which may be cranked to a down position whereby the trailer tongue is supported. U.S. Pat. No. 2,638,315 for “Trailer Attached Jack,” describes a simple telescoping jack for supporting a trailer tongue. U.S. Pat. No. 2,638,315 for “Trailer Attached Jack,” describes a telescoping tongue jack similar to modern jacks. The jack of the '315 patent includes a crank for turning a screw shaft, which screw shaft is held in place by a thrust bearing, and cooperates with a nut attached to an inner telescoping tube to extend or retract the inner tube. U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,693 for “Retractable Trailer Tongue Jack,” describes a jack having a screw shaft with a ring gear. A crank turns a pinion gear engaging the ring gear to turn the screw shaft, thereby extending or retracting an inner tube. U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,523 for “Trailer Tongue Jack,” describes a tongue jack with a pair of cooperating beveled gears coupling a crank to a screw shaft.
One major disadvantage of the present tongue jacks is the time and effort required to fully raise and lower the tongue jack in order to hook up or unhook the trailer. For example, at times the jack is not long enough to reach the ground and lift the trailer to a sufficient height to enable the operator to hook up or unhook the trailer. Often times, the operator will employ “spacers” (e.g. blocks of wood, cinder blocks, etc.) to allow the jack to raise the trailer higher and/or to reduce the travel of the jack and thereby reduce the time and energy required to crank the jack all the up and down. In some cases, the operator may not fully retract the inner tube due to time constraints or apathy. However, towing a trailer with a jack that is not fully retracted may result in damage to the jack and trailer because the jack may hit the ground during transportation. In order to avoid this undesirable possibility, the operator is required to fully extend and retract the jack each time the operator hooks up or unhooks the trailer.
The features and advantages of the present disclosure will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the present disclosure without undue experimentation. The features and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in this disclosure.